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Who doesn’t want white teeth?! Our teeth can yellow due to genetics, what we eat and drink – hello coffee lovers! I love me some coffee, so making sure that I keep my smile white and bright is very important to me. Let’s get into 3 ways to make your smile whiter AND maintain it:

1. SMILE BRILLIANT SYSTEM

What’s better than a dentist quality whitening? NOT going to the dentist to whiten your teeth! Smile Brilliant offers dentist quality whitening without having to sit in the chair. You know, that anxiety inducing char. Okay, even if it is for whitening, I still don’t like it!

Anyway, Smile Brilliant offers two different systems: one for people with sensitive teeth and one non-sensitive. You guys…their system is really the best. And it’s easy & made just for you. What do I mean? You’ll take a mold of your teeth, send it to Smile Brilliant, and then they’ll send you custom trays to use. Want more info? “From dental lab to your door. Our teeth whitening process is recommended by more dentists than any other procedure in America. We proudly produce our custom-fitted whitening trays right here in the United States for 70% less than your dentist and 3x to 5x faster. We ship worldwide & our customers trust our team’s honesty and experience.” How is that for amazing?

I was afraid that my teeth and/or gums would hurt from the whitening gel, but I felt no discomfort. I used the trays everyday until I was out of syringes, and recommend doing this for the best and fastest results.

See the my results for yourself:

2. BE MANIPULATIVE!

A fake tan and a good lipstick will do the trick. Both will make your teeth look A LOT whiter.

Let’s get specific. Opt for a natural looking tan. My favorites are NKD SKN and Loving Tan. Neither brand sells orange toned tanners. The same goes for lipstick – go for cool toned colors to make your teeth look more white. Orange-y tones will bring out the yellow in your teeth. So, if you go for red, use a blue toned red.

3. USE A CLEAN TOOTHPASTE

By clean, I mean using a toothpaste without the bad shit such as: carrageenan, fluoride, and sweeteners. Yes, many toothpastes contain all of these ingredients! My new favorite is from Dr. Bronner’s. It’s pepperminty and fresh, and makes your smile sparkle and your mouth feel clean.

Side note: Before I started using Dr. Bronner’s, I was using a charcoal toothpaste because I thought that it was beneficial for dental health and the color of your teeth. While charcoal toothpastes DO whiten your teeth, they are also damaging to your tooth enamel. We’re talking permanent damage.

“Prolonged use of charcoal to whiten teeth is likely to lead to dramatic enamel erosion and permanent damage to the tooth with incredibly superficial results.” – Smile Brilliant

I am so grateful to Smile Brilliant for educating me on this, as I would have continued on using charcoal toothpaste. Check out their page HERE for more info.

**GIVEAWAY**

Smile Brilliant is so kind to give away a whitening kit to one lucky winner!

Want to get a system now? Smile Brilliant is offering my readers 15% off any kit with code: allgussiedup15 at SmileBrilliant.com !

We all know that the best way to plan ahead with what to wear is to pick out your outfit the night before. Check the forecast, choose your outfit, accessories, and shoes so they’re all ready to go. Anything to make things EASY, right?

But it doesn’t always go that way, at least not for me.

When I don’t have time to put an outfit together in advance, I usually always go for the same STAPLE outfit.

GO-TO Outfit Whenever I’m Pressed For TIME:

The top: I love rocker tee’s because they add personality to your outfit while still being very easy to wear. You can find rocker tee’s at so many places, like Forever 21, Urban Outfitter’s, Revolve, and ShopBop. This one is my favorite, from Revolve.

The jewelry: Coco Chanel once said, “before leaving the house, a lady should look in the mirror and remove one accessory.” Great advice if you’re one to pile on the jewels. Side note: I used to! Right now I love to wear dainty yet edgy accessories and I stick to only a few. They add an extra punch to your look without taking over your outfit. My favorite pieces are from Miranda Frye.

The jeans: I am a total jeans girl. I live in them. Fun story about these jeans: back when the Rachel Zoe project was on TV, I became obsessed with flares. I bought this pair from JBrand — same pair that Rachel always wore, and wore them to death. A couple of years later, I lost some weight, had them taken in, and I didn’t fit into them again until recently. Score! I am really loving flares again because they’re just so fun, and they are super flattering if worn right. Make sure that they’re not too long (not dragging on the ground) and not too short.

Thejacket: A black faux leather jacket will always be a staple for me. Love this biker jacket from BlankNYC.

Creating your own future is such a powerful concept, and what a perfect time to do it!

I created this worksheet for you kind of for a selfish reason: I need it myself! After hearing Gary Vaynerchuck talk about happiness in one of his recent Ask Gary V Podcast episodes, I was struck with the inspiration to write down all of my goals with the WHY being HAPPINESS (see the second and third boxes on this worksheet). Here’s the gist of what Gary had to say: Everyone is happiest when they are doing what they want to be doing. It’s pretty damn simple.

It’s important to define success on your own terms in order to live a happy life. Do not go out to set goals based on someone else’s life, goals, or what you think you should be doing. Do what makes you happy.

Alright, now let’s talk about using the worksheet.

1. Start with your goal, and use multiple sheets for each goal.

2. Ask yourself how accomplishing this goal will make you feel

I like to work in reverse when setting goals by asking how I will feel once something is accomplished. If I feel energized, excited, accomplished, and HAPPY, it’s worth working on. If not, no thanks.

Tony Robbins says: “your mental and emotional state colors your perception and experience of everything in life. If you feel afraid or insecure, it’s hard to make a big change, but if you feel like a million bucks, you’re ready to conquer the world.”

3. WHY?

After writing down how you will feel once you’ve accomplished your goal, ask yourself WHY this is important to you.

4. List actions

Lastly, develop your strategy…specifically the actions that you need to take to complete your goal. The best way to create a strategy? Look at who else might have succeeded with the same goal and outcome that you have written down. What did they do to accomplish it? Modeling actions after other successful people who have already accomplished this will give you some inspiration.

I hope this has been helpful for you! I am personally so excited to use this worksheet as my own goals and thoughts have only been an inner narrative until now.

Have you seen someone wearing layered dainty jewelry and it just looks so effortless?

I am all about that look, and have learned that dainty jewelry can complete any look, but it has to be done well.

My best tips for necklace layering:

♡ Make sure each of your necklaces is a different length. This is probably the most important tip because major overlap just starts to look messy.

♡ Consider the neck line of your top or dress. Personally, I like to wear layered necklaces with V-neck tops best because that neckline serves as a kind of frame for the necklaces.

♡ Mix and match metals. I’m a total gold girl, but love mixing gold and rose gold. Mixing silver and gold or silver and rose gold etc. looks more unique and effortless.

♡ Add a personal touch. This could be an engraved bar necklace, a pendant with your zodiac sign, a name necklace, or another personalized necklace. The longest gold necklace I’m wearing here was my Grandpa’s favorite necklace and the zodiac necklace makes the whole look a little more personalized.